


Home is Where...

by echoflowertea



Series: Open Requests [18]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, Reader Is Not Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:51:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoflowertea/pseuds/echoflowertea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re worried about losing your home. So is Sans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Where...

**Author's Note:**

> **prompt** : Hey, how are you as of late? Anyway, I actually have a request for a fic and the subject might be a tad strange. The fic I'm requesting has Sans reacting to and helping Reader because Reader is worried their house might flood and might not be able to get out with their vehicle due to said flood. The reason for this/inspiration is that I live in Louisiana. Should be explanatory if one has paid attention to the news as of late, I think. ^^;

Sans was awake.

He heard you leave his bed and head downstairs to the living room. He thought maybe you’d just left for a few seconds to grab something to drink, but you hadn’t come up just yet. He heard faint static from beyond the thin walls of his room and his browbone furrowed. What the hell were you doing down there?

He lifted himself up from the mattress and crept down to where you were.

The news was on. You were transfixed on the TV. The weather channel, more specifically. You had the thick blanket drawn up to your nose, buried in the covers, eyes glazed over as the images flashed and scrolled across the luminescent screen.

“hey.”

“Oh. Hi.” You glanced at him furtively. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“not without ya there.” He settled in next to you, leaning forward with his elbows on his kneecaps. “got somethin’ you wanna share?”

You looked down at the floor, then lifted your gaze back to the violent images on screen. “All the…rain. You know? It’s…so stupid. It makes me nervous.”

“about what?”

“That things…you know, never mind.”

He let out a slight sigh. Sans The Skeleton wasn’t exactly the type of guy that pushed for information. He took things at face value because it took too much effort to do anything else. But these were the breaks: he was very much in love with you. And any reservations he had about inquiring further about your souring mood were destroyed with the fact that something could’ve been bothering you. That it was his duty as someone that cared for you so immensely to soothe your worries and fears, because having you so downtrodden left a dull ache in his chest.

“look, babe. can’t help ya if you don’t let me in, y’know?”

You curled more into a ball and flopped over onto his lap. He didn’t seem to mind the sudden switch in physical contact. In fact, his body seemed to stop tensing so hard and he sank into the couch.

“I’m glad you’re letting me stay with you tonight, but my house is in the midst of that…storm.”

“yeah.”

“And it’s only gonna get worse. I mean. This is just. What happens if I go back tomorrow and I get trapped inside? What if I end up in the house and the water finally comes rushing down the neighborhood? And it breaks through the doors and windows and I have to outrun the rising water while I try to get to the roof? What if I get trapped? What if I end up drowning? What if I’m stranded for days and no one comes to save me? What if it completely fills the house and everything is destroyed? What if all of my stuff is completely swallowed up and carried away and there’s no way for me to get it back?”

Sans listened to your fears one by one. You were growing more passionate now, voice thick and tears beading at the corners of your eyes. It wasn’t unwarranted; this topic was something that had been weighing on you heavily for quite some time, now. Hearing about the struggles and experiences of other people in the area was enough to force you to face what could be reality.

He’d taken you with him on a shortcut because he thought it would ease your anxieties. But he knew that deep down your home meant far more than trying to pretend nothing was going on.

He sighed and reached for the remote. “come back to bed, ok? we’ll talk about this in the morning and figure somethin’ out.”

You really didn’t want to, but lifted yourself up from the couch anyway. You were exhausted, and as sad as it was, you hadn’t slept at all since the both of you went up to bed. You waited for him to turn the TV off before he reached for your hand, leading you back to his room so you could settle in.

You stared at the ceiling and felt him embrace you. Reaching down to stroke your hand, his bones a welcome warmth along the sensitive skin of your palm. The gentle thrum of his magic eventually did cause your eyes to grow heavy, and you reluctantly drifted off to sleep.

When you came to, Sans was already out of bed and fully dressed. Hands in his pockets. When you glanced at the clock, it was nearly nine. He never got out of bed unless you forced him to, and refused to ever leave in the morning unless he had work. So this was…a little out of the ordinary for him.

“mornin’, beautiful. ready to run a few errands?”

You weren’t sure what he meant. “I guess we could. Where did you have in mind?”

Sans didn’t waste any time in making sure you were all packed up and ready to go. He said he was going to take you back to your house, but not before he took care of a few things first.

“Where are we going?”

Sans stepped out of the car and beckoned for you to follow him. His pace was level. Concentrated. Like this was something he was forcing himself to do. You rushed after him and watched as he disappeared inside of the grocery store.

Papyrus was the one who usually did the shopping. When Sans tagged along, he bought nonsensical items that could barely stand on their own, let alone in combination with anything else he shoved in the cart. You were a little wary of why he decided to take the initiative to traverse through the aisles, pushing the cart along and avoiding crashing into anyone.

“Um…do you want me to do that, instead?”

He shoved a haphazard list to your chest. “just read it off to me, will ya?”

You weren’t sure what the deal was, but glanced down anyway. His handwriting was atrocious, real scientist scrawl meant for lab notes and calculations. You could barely make out what the first thing was.

“Bubbled warbler?”

He chuckled. “bottled water.”

“Oh, oh yeah. My bad.”

He stopped along all of the major places. Perishable foods. Water. First-aid kids. Blankets, batteries, flashlights. With every item you tossed in the cart, the more you realized what his deal was. He was…putting his mind to the test. Gathering a well-stocked emergency kit that you could have in your house just in case. All of these things…were meant to keep you alive, warm and safe in case anything were to happen.

“Um, Sans?”

“yeah, i know. yer gonna say somethin’ like, ‘you don’t hafta do this’. except i do. y’know…” He trailed off. “seein’ you upset and worried…it ain’t a good feelin’. this is something i can do for ya, so…”

He dropped another box of trashbags in and admired his handiwork. He wasn’t going to let up, no matter what you said. When Sans put his mind to something, when trying to make other people happy, there wasn’t much they could do to stop him. He was as selfless as he was lazy, and it was one thing you admired a lot about him.

You walked up to the checkout and glanced at your phone. More rain heading your way. Shit. The anxiety coiled around in your stomach. There was a lot to do. Some things to rifle through. Pick what to bring with you and what you had to leave behind in case things took a turn for the worse. Just thinking about your home, the place you considered safe, rushing with enough water to destroy the memories and keepsakes you’d collected over years…it was enough to make your hands shake.

Sans took your phone without even asking and locked the screen. He stuffed it in his pocket and redirected your attention to the row of candies near the checkout lane. You knew it was just a distraction, something to get your mind off the looming threat of the flood, but you were too touched to stay annoyed at him for very long.

It was cloudy and gray outside. The weather turned and the gentle sprinkle from this morning had turned into a steady drizzle. Sans glanced upward as the droplets ran down his cheekbones and nasal cavity, his smile fading at the sudden shift around you.

“we should getcha home, huh?”

You drove in silence, save for the gentle sloshing of the windshield wipers so you had a clear path. The radio was chock full of reports of people having lost everything. Others perishing from the disaster, children separated from their families and pets lost among the high waters. Sans changed the station at least three times before he gave up, hitting the volume button so that the entire rest of the ride was engulfed in dead quiet.

He parked just outside of your place. The streets were already slick and the thunder gave way for even more promises of rain. You bit your lower lip and grabbed as many bags as you could, rushing inside to the gentle warmth of your place.

You started to put things away when you heard Sans laugh from the living room.

“hey, babe. c’mere for a sec.”

You stopped what you were doing and broke away. Sans stood near the doorway. He had his arms crossed and his head tilted.

“see that?”

“What?”

“your walls. kind of, uh. old? this place…could use some work.”

“Sans…”

“hear me out. i’m gonna run home and grab some tools. you mind craftin’ that emergency kit we bought all the stuff for?”

He didn’t let you finish, because he disappeared as he walked around the corner near the hall. He’d taken another shortcut, which meant he was all business.

You went back to unloading everything. He really was thorough. You had some stuff to prepare for floods before, but he went all out. Where did he even get his list of things to get? You were pretty impressed. He must’ve found one of those all-in-one human websites again. He stumbled on a good one every now and then and would keep it as a resource for nearly everything.

It had been about half an hour before he came back. You were sitting on the couch, scrolling on your phone, when the door burst open.

“HEY NERD! Where you at?!”

Undyne scooped you up without even blinking. She crushed you to her chest with an obnoxious laugh, burying her fist in your hair for a playful noogie. You were glad to see her, but a little confused as to why she was here.

“Um, good to see you?”

“HA! I get it. You’re surprised. Well, your BOYFRIEND said you’ve got big issues with this storm. So I’M here to ease those fears of yours. And Papyrus is just here for moral support.”

She thumbed over to her best friend, who was bringing in some very hefty looking supplies. He tried to wave at you despite the massive object in his hands, nearly toppling over from the sudden shift in weight. You almost darted forward to help him before he regained his balance.

Hold on a second.

You drew closer to him and took a good look at what he was carting around. “What…are these?” You tried to stop them from bringing any more in, but he walked right past you. “Are those storm shutters?”

“YES! SANS WENT DOWN INTO HIS LAB WITH ALPHYS AND THEY WELDED YOU SOME. HE SAID HE TOOK MEASUREMENTS OF YOUR WINDOWS WHILE YOU WERE DISTRACTED.” Papyrus set his stack down and put his hands on his hips with a beam. “THIS WILL KEEP A LOT OF THE RAIN OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. IT MAY NOT LOOK VERY FASHIONABLE, BUT I ASSURE YOU, SAFETY IS MORE IMPORTANT!”

You weren’t sure what to say. “And what is that?”

Alphys smiled at you shyly, lifting up her visor as she huddled more into her labcoat. She got cold pretty easily and hated the rain. You couldn’t believe she braved it out here for you.

“We’re caulking the spaces b-between your walls and windows. This should stop some minor leaks if it rains too hard.”

Toriel swept past you, winking as she went. “And I am making lunch!”

This was…too much. You wanted to stop them, but Undyne picked you up before you could chase after them in every direction.

“So. Worried about losing your house, huh?”

You nodded. Sheepish.

“Hell, it happens sometimes! Did you know that when we lived Underground, I was teaching Frisk how to cook, and accidentally burned down my ENTIRE house???”

“What?!”

“Yeah, it was AWFUL!” She cackled. “But I got over it. Papyrus was nice enough to let me stay at his place while I got it rebuilt. And while I lost some stuff, like my piano and a few…collectibles…I was okay! And so was Frisk! You know, it was a lot of fun crashing at his place. Even though…things got WEIRD sometimes. It was good to know I had someone who had my BACK! Who would be there when I NEEDED it!”

She slapped her hands on her thighs. “I’m a FISH monster, you know! If anything were to happen to this place, all you’d need to do is call me! Water? Not a big deal for someone as TALENTED as me, fufufu! I could fish out whatever you needed or wanted! Drag you out of here and put you somewhere SAFE! You’re not the only one who’s been watching out for the weather. Me n’ Alphys have our OWN disaster plan all about you!!!”

You couldn’t believe it. Your friends had…made arrangements? To come out and help if things went awry?

“Sans is the one who set it up. Said he didn’t want you WORRYING about this kinda thing. For a lazybones, he SURE does have a soft spot for you.”

She shot you a feral grin. It was meant to fluster you, and it was working.

“He put Papyrus in charge of escorting everyone out and leading them to the safe zone. We’ve got a special place for you out of harm’s way and everything! It’s an old storage unit that Toriel bought when she started her school and she furnished it out for you, plus it’s up on this high hill so you don’t have to worry! I’m all about salvage, Alphys is in charge of defenses to avoid further damage, Toriel’s on standby for healing, AND Sans is the one that’s gonna use his magic to repel the water. Can you believe it? The guy that can’t even pick up his own SOCKS is gonna use all that energy to stand in front of your place and redirect the water – or even freeze it in time – so you don’t have to worry about it even _touching_ your place!”

You couldn’t believe it.

Sans wanted to protect you with his life. With his _magic_. You’d never even seen him use it for anything. Aside from the minor blipping in and out of places, he avoided it like the plague. He said it was because he was lazy, but you knew better. There was something traumatizing for him in using it.

And he would do it for you.

He would put it all aside. He would prop himself in front of your house, against the rain and harsh winds, and stay there to divert the course of rushing water just to make sure you went untouched.

He would overexert himself.

He would lie to your face and say he was fine through gritted teeth.

He would keep this a secret from you until he had to use it. A secret weapon that could hurt him just as much as losing your house, if not more. Because you couldn’t replace him with anything. He meant so much more.

Your heart broke.

“Where’s Sans?”

Alphys popped her head in and wiped the beads of sweat from her brow. “H-he went up to the roof. He’s working on reinforcing the top so t-that nothing gets through.”

It was pouring outside! You were wondering why you hadn’t seen him, but that was ridiculous! He had to get his ass in the house like five minutes ago! That and you were worried about him slipping and falling.

You rushed out the backdoor despite Undyne’s halfhearted attempt to draw you back in. Your friends pitched in. All of this was for you. You knew that they cared about you, but Sans had coordinated this whole thing. He was the one that tried to ease your fears by gathering more supplies on top of the massive preparations he’d already made. He knew that he had things covered, but because he didn’t want you to stress out about it, he went overtime just to dig deep and show you that he wasn’t going to let anything happen.

The icy rain sloughed along your shirt and made the fabric stick to your body. You ignored the dull bite of the cold and stared up at his shadowy figure. He had a hammer and some supplies all the way up there, going at his own pace with a few nails sticking out between his teeth.

“SANS!”

He glanced down at you. “hey, what’re you doin’ down there? get back inside.”

“Please come down! Please come inside!”

“look, i’m almost done. just let me do this, ok?”

“Sans I don’t want this!”

“but i do.”

This wasn’t the time for this conversation. If he wasn’t coming down, you were going up. You took hold of the ladder he used and tested its place against the side of the house. It was slippery now, the metal dripping with rain, but you were going to ignore that and climb up anyway.

You’d just gotten to the sixth step when you nearly lost your footing and fell.

“babe, get down from there. _now._ ”

“Not unless you come down.”

Both of you stared at each other. So this was what happened when two completely stubborn people met head to head. The threatening grin on his face was downright murderous. He thought he could gain the upper hand by intimidating you, the lights in his eyesockets fading as the empty void threatened to swallow you up. Still. You steeled yourself and refused to back down.

His expression cracked. Right down the middle.

“don’t want anything to happen to you, either.”

“Oh, _Sans…_ ”

“couldn’t go through with it. thinkin’ maybe…i didn’t do enough.”

You blinked away the droplets that ran down your face. He was too vulnerable right now. “I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this. I’m sorry I said anything.”

“no.” He shook his head. “you…have the right to be afraid. but seein’ you like that, knowin’ that somethin’ could hurt you like that…”

You took a step down. So did he.

“don’t wanna lose you, y’know?”

Step.

“can’t even…make you feel better about this stuff.”

Step.

“want to be the kinda guy that knows exactly what to say.”

Step.

“that can just make you laugh n’ smile without having to use shitty jokes.”

Step.

“you mean everythin’ to me.”

Pause.

Step.

“and i wanna carry that burden, too.”

You embraced him tightly. He returned it halfheartedly. Sans wasn’t the type of guy to declare his undying love for you. He wasn’t really romantic in a traditional sense. But you were with him because of stuff like this. How he showed you – through his actions, first and foremost – that you meant everything to him. That you were the one that could bring these uncomfortable feelings and worries from him.

He wanted to forget about everything. He wanted to go the rest of his life not caring too much about other people and only pitching in when he absolutely had to. But you forced his hand and made it so that he would step out of his comfort zone. And he wouldn’t have traded it for anything or anyone else.

That was why you loved him. Because as funny as he was, as utterly shady and mysterious as he could be, as detached and laissez-faire as he acted, there was still something in him that yearned to be loved. To have friends. To bring other people comfort. To pour his heart and SOUL into someone that could return it. Who could be patient enough and wonderful enough to see that he wasn’t as broken or too far gone as he thought of himself sometimes.

“I love you so much.”

“hey, no confessions under the rain. whaddya think this is, a movie?”

You kissed him anyway despite his deflection and embarrassment. He returned it with a laugh, gripping your sleeves tight as he brought you in as close as possible. Encircling his arms as far as he could go, the crushing weight against you a welcome reminder that all of this was real.

“Let’s go inside, okay?”

“yeah. ok.”

You were freezing and soaked by the time you stepped through the threshold. Papyrus caught you with a fluffy towel and immediately went to work in squeezing out every last drop from your clothes, burying you in its warmth and forcing you to take a hot shower.

You had a lot of time to sit there and think. Especially when Sans stepped inside and immediately reached for the soap, handing it off to you so you could scour away all the lingering memories and concerns of the current situation just outside the window.

Sans pinned you up against the wall and made you bend down to kiss him. Clutching you tight, scabbing at your skin like he had finally recognized that this was where he wanted to be. He tangled his hand in your hair, forcing you to stay where you were while he planted wet smooches along the slope of your neck and shoulders.

You stepped out, feeling more relaxed than ever. Your lips buzzed and your nerves tingled. Sans followed suit, grabbing a towel and wrapping himself up in it, stumbling out to your room so he could find another pair of shorts and a shirt to hold him off until his own clothes were dry.

Both of you went back down to the others. Toriel whipped up some sandwiches for everyone. The power had gone out, but she had a few candles already lit that made the air smell like cinnamon and butterscotch. They must’ve been the homemade ones that she made for her little all-natural storefront to raise money for her students’s field trips.

“GOODIE! YOU TWO ARE FINALLY FINISHED. I AM GLAD YOU MANAGED TO DO SO BEFORE THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF.”

“They probably were the ones who made the water HOT,” Undyne cackled, earning a welcome heat along your cheeks. “Anyway, we’ve got a board game all set up! You NERDS better not pick the little piece in the shape of a basket! It’s my go-to!”

“U-Undyne, that’s a thimble. W-we used to store the sewing kit in this box, remember?”

“SO???”

You laughed and plopped down in their circle. The storm raged on outside. It wasn’t clear what the future held. Your house’s fate was still up in the air, and you still had the right to be concerned about how much and what you would lose.

But the storm would never take this away.

Your friends? Their support? The patience they held for you? The time they took in order to bring you down just a notch and ride out this weather until they were sure you were safe?

That was irreplaceable.

Sans reached down and snuck his hand on top of yours. The weight of his hand was familiar and soothing against your own. He avoided eye contact, not wanting to push things too far, but squeezed you just tight enough for you to know that he was always listening. You might not have noticed. You might not have even shown as much appreciation as you would’ve liked.

But he was here.

And he wasn’t going anywhere.

He was home.

**Author's Note:**

>  **please comment**! your thoughts make my day.  <3
> 
> want to request a fic from me? **[put one in my tumblr inbox](http://echoflowertea.tumblr.com/ask)!**
> 
> you can always [donate](http://ko-fi.com/A258IM#_=_) to me!


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